Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

A conversation among Whalers
JRSC
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Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby JRSC » Fri Oct 23, 2015 7:31 am

[On a Boston Whaler MONTAUK, presumably a 17-foot model, there is] currently a 72-quart Igloo cooler with cushion, but I have been thinking about upgrading to a Yeti or Orca. Has anyone [changed to an ORCA or YETI coolers from an IGLOO 72-quart cooler]? Do [ORCA or YETI] cooler fit [on a Boston Whaler MONTAUK 17-foot boat]?

Thanks
JR

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Landlocked
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby Landlocked » Fri Oct 23, 2015 10:54 am

I've wanted to [change to a YETI or ORCA cooler from an IGLOO cooler] for a while but to date have just settled for a small Yeti in the back due to the cost. I will say give the Orca a close look. They are based here, in Franklin, Tennessee, and I see their products at a lot of events. They are just as well made as a Yeti but a little cheaper. Folks I know that have them are very happy with the quality. There are also seat covers available for them.

Funny story: I bought a Yeti coffee cup down in Rosemary Beach, Florida, last week as a souvenir and to use with my morning coffee. The guy that sold it to me warned me to be very careful because the Yeti cup would actually make the coffee hotter once it was poured in the cup. He was serious.

I read another story about a guy who said when it got too hot in his house, he just opened the lid on his Yeti to cool it down again. He wasn't serious but sure was funny. My son has an old styrofoam cooler strapped on the front of his 4-wheeler that he had my daughter recreate the Yeti Logo on.--that is pretty dang funny, too.

C.

K Albus
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby K Albus » Fri Oct 23, 2015 12:49 pm

While I agree that the Yeti coolers have a certain "coolness" factor to them (pun intended), if you look into it, I think you'll find that they are not worth the extra cost. There are a number of side-by-side reviews available on youtube.com which show that the Yeti-style coolers perform only marginally better than the Coleman and Igloo extreme-type coolers which cost much less. The Yeti-type coolers appear to be more durable, and they have certain amount of cachet. But they're more expensive, heavier, and more likely to be stolen. I'm always looking for something cool to waste money on for my boat, but every time I look into expensive coolers, I opt not to buy.

padrefigure
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby padrefigure » Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:19 pm

I use a Yeti 110 in front of my Outrage 22 console. The YETI 10 cooler is large than the Igloo 94 that it replaced, so I removed the mahogany cleats. Resting against the console, the cooler stays put without any other strap or tie down. There is actually more room between the console and the front locker on my Outrage 18, so the Yeti 110 might slide forward if placed there. I have an old Yeti 85 that is much closer to the size of the Igloo Marine 94, but opted for the larger cooler for capacity. We use the front cooler for food and drink and have a Yeti 165 behind the leaning post for the fish box.

Others have noted that Yeti and other premium coolers are more expensive than Igloo, Coleman, and the like. I bought my first Yeti because of this--I got tired of having to replace hinges, latches, handles on every trip for my Igloo coolers. At first, Igloo kept the prices on these small parts low, so it was more of a nuisance factor, but then someone decided that this should become a profit center, so they cut cost (resulting in further quality problems) and quadrupled the prices. In 10 years or so, I have replace one Yeti latch and Yeti sent it to me for free when I called and asked.

As far as ice retention goes, my experience is a little different than the You Tube tests. We will typically fish for several day in a row, coming in each night and reloading the next morning. Once I get my Yeti cooler chilled, we basically top it off each day adding drinks and lunch and, after draining the water, adding another bag of ice. In our Igloo days, we were basically starting over every day because all of the ice had melted. We boat and fish on the Gulf Coast of Texas and in the summer, it is hot and humid. If we were on the Great Lakes or on the Pacific or Northeast, this would not really be a big deal. But in the hot, humid parts of the world, in my opinion, Yeti's perform better than the Igloos I previously kept on my Whalers. I am pretty sure that Engle, Grizzly, Orca and maybe even the new Yukon series from Igloo would perform in a similar manner.

Good luck in whatever decision you make. By the way, I heard a rumor that Yeti had been purchased by Igloo, but it is just a rumor.

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Phil T
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby Phil T » Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:25 am

There have been several members who installed Yeti's. I would look through the old forum for comments.

Consider you will need to modify or remove/replace the cooler cleats and drill new holes.

I never had problems with the Igloo coolers in both my Outrage and Montauk.
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JRSC
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby JRSC » Sat Oct 24, 2015 4:47 pm

Thanks guys.

Went fishing last weekend with a buddy that had an Orca on his Sea Fox. never had a problem with my Igloo but I can't stop looking for things to add or modify.

18daunt
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby 18daunt » Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:23 pm

I put a 65 Yeti on my 180 Dauntless which replaced a 54 Igloo. With the weight of the Yeti and the non-skid feet it stays in place without chocks, but it does take up a little more space. I think the 45 Yeti is a close match to the dimensions of my former Igloo, while the 65 Yeti probably is close to your Igloo's footprint. You just need to compare the dimensions of your existing cooler to the dimensions of the replacement coolers you are considering and see what will fit. My Yeti does perform better than the Igloo did, but the real benefit is what a substantial and sturdy seat it is compared to the light weight Igloo. I also added the Yeti cushion which is very nice.

yellowlab
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby yellowlab » Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:58 pm

I am a YETI fan, but not a fan of the price, however I just placed an order for an RTIC cooler, which is half the price of the YETI and supposedly holds more ice, but almost exact same construction. I heard rumors that RTIC is a subsidiary of YETI and offered this line up as a lower cost option, if true, a smart move.

They look exactly the same, and hopefully perform just as well. I love the YETI, very sturdy and no worries about blown out plastic, hinges, broken drains, in many of the cheap Walmart coolers. Hopefully, the RTIC will be as good or better.

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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby Jefecinco » Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:07 am

It's hard to beat the Igloos for value, ie. cost vs performance, for general purpose use. For those who need ice to last longer the pricier coolers may be a better value. The extra insulation is costly in terms of interior space for a cooler of the same footprint.

Durability of my Igloos has been excellent over the past several decades. I had to replace the latch on the OEM Igloo that came with my 190 Montauk. I replaced the plastic latch with a stainless steel latch bought at West Marine. Handles have not been problematic.

I've never returned from a day of fishing without ice remaining in my OEM Igloo coolers. It does get a mite warm on our Gulf Coast and water temperatures in the Summer run in the mid-eighties.

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msirof2001
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby msirof2001 » Mon Oct 26, 2015 3:36 pm

If you do a search in the old forum on "cooler wars", there is a really good and lengthy discussion about these high-end coolers versus lower cost alternatives.
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ConB
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby ConB » Mon Oct 26, 2015 7:12 pm

This yeti cooler caught my eye a few years back.

http://media.al.com/live/photo/yeti-coo ... b942bc.jpg

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fishroy3
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby fishroy3 » Mon Oct 26, 2015 8:02 pm

That is one good looking Snapper!

StormWarning
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby StormWarning » Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:12 am

Also take a look at Grizzly coolers. Same deal as the yeti and a bit cheaper. I also think Gander Mountain has a house brand which is a grizzly I think.

I have a 162qt Igloo that I paid $380 for and its great because it doesn't weigh much and I pull the cooler out of the boat very often. I have a buddy with a yeti 110 that was on my boat once and the best thing I can say about the cooler is it does not slide around one bit. That may be a concern if you want to slide it under a seat or something.

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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby porthole » Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:56 pm

I bought a Yeti 45 for a recent camping trip. Although the cooler did a fair job keeping the ice, I really don't think it was all that much better then any of my other coolers. A little better but not enough to justify the cost difference. I also tried with some dry ice and was disappointed in how long it lasted.
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bruce.m
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Re: Yeti or Orca Cooler for Montauk

Postby bruce.m » Wed Nov 25, 2015 10:15 pm

Well, so far no mention of some of the other high end coolers like Engle etc. I recently purchased a 45qt Pelican. After having looked the others over for years, I finally got what I consider the best. The thing is a thick heavy tank. Stand on it? Sure, dance on it all day. It's first outing was an extreme test. Cooler was placed into a chest freezer and water slowly layered up on the bottom to about 3" deep. Vacuum sealed meals then layered with ice in between until almost full. Then an inch of ice on top. It took two people to lift it out of the freezer using a 2x4 and ropes. It was then place on a river raft. It was five days before enough ice melted on top to start eating from the cooler. Last of ice melted 17 days later. Honest. One must exercise careful cooler management to get that, but it can be done. I think the Pelican is the best built, best insulated cooler out there right now. Guaranteed for life, as with all their products. For our Nauset I believe I will get the one with wheels, and a couple teenagers..... My thought for a Montauk is this; A 45qt pelican will do the job of a 60/80qt. standard style Gott/Igloo. Less ice. Lasts longer. Might be more efficient. Might be a wash. Worth looking into at least.